Who's your dady now?

That's it, have done it. I ran my barefoot half marathon this weekend in 88 minutes. Well, of course, it was approximately, I ran from home to home, passing most of the time on the exact path of the HD half (I live in the Weststadt). So it might not have been exactly 21 km, but it is as close as I could estimate. And honestly, it can't have been far from it. I went at a pretty good pace, even at close to my maximum sustainable for a while. It felt good. And my 5F's feet are feeling real good now. early Sunday morning, Listening in this order to The Vasco ear, Louis XIV, MIA, and finishing with Rammstein. The title of this post is from one of the Louis XIV song, that I really enjoyed at that time, while running. I thought it would be appropriated. Thus, all in all, I believe that I have now completely switched to barefoot running, I don't run with shoes since a few months, I have run more than 1 hour and a half 5F's, and a half marathon (even if unofficial and approximate distance). Given that I received my first 5F's shoes the 11th of November, we are the 20th of May, and considering ski season, and the traveling, it means that it took me 6 months to make the transition from shod to barefoot running. The motivation behind this blog was only to document this transition. I will keep you posted on the evolution though. And this is related to another post where I was asked if I would advice to begin running directly barefoot.

Obviously I need to make this official in a regular race now. So I will be looking for the next half marathon close to HD next month. But as I already mentioned, I will be traveling a lot the coming weeks. We will see.

In summary, after 6 months, I can say that switching to barefoot running was
not painless or even injury free but probably I was too ambitious, too naive, and not patient enough, a new discovery, not so difficult, changes a lot your running posture and style, a lot of fun. Now, I completely switched to barefoot and running is a pleasure again, I am always looking forward to the next run.

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Uccle, dis!

So, this is it, I was in Belgium last week for work and ran twice. First time was with my friend and colleague. We ran 66' in the beautiful Forest de Soignes. It was very nice, perfect weather, not too cold, not too warm. The forest was beautiful and a very nice run all together. And so close from the city. We just left from my friend's house, ran 5 minutes through town and were immediately in the forest. Nice to evacuate all the beers we had the previous days.
Flamoutch, thank you for bringing me there and keep on running.

That was on Friday. On Sunday, I took another 'clean up run' to discard the beers I had in Tournai, my home town. Again, slightly above the hour, 64', a not too tough pace. My feet were feeling good after that. However, it is very interesting to feel how much more flexible are your feet specially after running. You can feel all small bones in the feet and how independent they are from each other. Anyway, I believe I am cured from the twisted ankle by now. I will do this weekend the 21 km that I couldn't do for the HD half and this week, I should register for a half marathon soon.

Wednesday, I have just run 42', easy and short. In preparation for the 21km this weekend. Nothing to declare, feet are fine. Will be ok.

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Recovery post HD/2

Ok, almost totally cured now. I ran 32' last Wednesday, 58' this Sunday and 40' today, Monday. I can still notice a very slight feel at the ankle, but nothing while running, just after, when it cools down. No pain, just a feeling of being there. So I have to plan for another half marathon. It is a pity to have missed the HD/2 but let's look at the future. I should run a race soon. Problem is I have lots of traveling in the coming months.
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Post HD/2

So, that is it, I did not run the famous Heidelberg half marathon. It is really a pity, I am so disappointed. The HD/2 is really a nice course, a tough one, with two famous hills that are really hard, but the people, the atmosphere around it is so beautiful, so cheerful, that you feel really good when you finish it, whatever your time. It is a pity because I had prepared very well, I think. I felt like I could run below 90 minutes.
Anyway, useless to keep self-pitying. Let's look at the future. And there are many many race around Heidelberg, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find one in the next future. I went running yesterday, Wednesday, for only 25' at a low pace and my ankle seemed to be fine. I will go again this weekend for an hour. If my legs and feet are fine after that, I will pick my next race that will be the first one I will run 5Fs. I am looking forward to it.
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Heidelberg half dropping out

Friday morning, my left ankle slightly hurt. That is exactly why I went running short and slow yesterday, just to see how my feet will react. Well, it reacted fine, but not fine enough. This morning I can feel that it is not ready. No pain, but a faint feeling that it is just not there yet. I just went for half an hour very easy pace yesterday. So unfortunately, it is clear that I won't be able to run on Sunday. I am very disappointed but it would be too risky.
It is important to state here that I don't think this is related at all to the 5Fs. It is just bad luck to have slipped like that 2 weeks before the race and could have happened with normal shoes. I think so.
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4 days to HD/2

Quick update at 4 days of the HD half. It is getting better. It is still slightly swollen, but almost nothing, and it feels like I could run, I want to run. I will thus take my place at the start line and then we will see how it goes. Initially, I would like to take it easy, not to take the risk of injury, but you know how it goes. I know myself and will probably try it anyway, because I will feel good. We will see.

On the other side, after a couple of weeks of slowing down and a week of complete rest, my legs are feeling full. You known this feeling, when you body is asking you to go out.  I feel like I could run a full marathon now. So, the HD half is not turning out too bad, the next step will probably be a full marathon.

See you on Sunday on the starting line.

Thursday, Day - 3, I went for a short and easy run this morning, just to check my feet. I think it will be alright. You can barely make out the swollen now and it felt good running. So I guess Sunday will be ok. See you there.

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40th birthday 16k practice race and twisted ankle

That is it, I just turned 40. And the day after ran a 16 km race to celebrate it.
Everything went fine, total barefoot again, no problem at all.

The following day, I just ran an easy 13 km with colleagues. It felt good, but towards the end of the path, I slept and slightly twisted my left ankle. Shit, just two weeks before the half marathon. How will I cope with that? Will I heal? I do hope so.

So far, I am with a support band, I will go buy some anti-inflammatory cream. I am supposed to run a 24 km race this weekend with a friend. I don't know, may be I skip it to be safe for the half. Shit.

That is it, I put a lot of anti-inflammatory cream on the inner part of my left ankle. I do have a slight stretched ligament there, slightly swollen. I will not do anything at all until the half and see how it goes. Anyway, I am supposed to be tapering now.

Here is the chart of my training then:

Next stop: Heidelberg half

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